Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State has said that the fringed members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) were outsiders to the party.
The governor said, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei on Thursday, that the defectors were elements within the party who were engrossed by internal sabotage activities against the party.
He said that most of the defectors who formed an opposition group within the PDP actually supported the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in the last election while the rest refused to work for the party.
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He reiterated his position that the defections which he described as infinitesimal would not have any detrimental effect on the electoral fortunes of the PDP in the next gubernatorial election in the state as shown by the general acceptability of the party.
Governor Dickson said that even the very few members of the Restoration Team who left are still in touch with the government.
The governor spoke shortly after receiving his Commissioner for Mineral Resources, Hon. Markson Fefegha who resigned on October 18, 2019 and returned to the party on Thursday.
He said, ‘I can say confidently that ninety percent of the defectors are outsiders to the PDP. They have not been at the core of the PDP affairs in the state and most of them were the ones doing anti party and the household of the opposition group within the party.
A number of them supported the ADC in the last election while others have been on the fence.
The good people of Bayelsa should note that these purported defection cannot affect the core of what we do in the PDP.
Only very few people who were part of the PDP have defected and they are still in touch with the leadership of the party because they are open to discussion. We are still reaching out to them.